After WhatsApp changed its terms of service and privacy policy to consolidate a significant portion of its data sharing with Facebook, the service is now assuring its users that privacy will continue to be protected.
Last week, WhatsApp began informing users about updates to the app's terms of service and privacy policy. The updated agreements, which users must agree to in order to continue using WhatsApp, explicitly give parent company Facebook access to a large amount of user data. While WhatsApp has shared some user data with Facebook for years, this update consolidates the data sharing for all users, including those who have opted out of sharing data with Facebook in the past.
WhatsApp privacy change: Messaging app Signal benefits
The updated terms help WhatsApp integrate more closely with Facebook's family of products to provide users with a more consistent experience across all services and allow the company to use aggregated information about all users to display targeted advertising. The widespread change was met with an outcry on social media, leading to a run on rival messaging app Signal and even triggering an antitrust investigation in Turkey. Through social media posts, WhatsApp now reassures users: "The update to our privacy policy does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family." The company has also amended its FAQ to address users' privacy concerns about data sharing with Facebook.
WhatsApp publishes FAQ
The FAQ explainedthat WhatsApp and Facebook cannot see a user's private messages or hear their calls. Logs of who users message and call are not kept, and shared location, contact information and group membership are kept private. WhatsApp says that the majority of data shared with Facebook comes from communications with businesses that use Facebook-branded hosting services or after using Facebook-branded commerce services, such as shops. Both of these can result in users being shown targeted ads.
WhatsApp privacy change: EU citizens not affected
However, it's noticeable that WhatsApp has focused primarily on what data isn't shared with Facebook, rather than what is. The FAQ update doesn't confirm the fact, as stated in the updated privacy policy, that WhatsApp shares device and interaction information, IP addresses, and unspecified "other information" with Facebook. Finally, it should be reiterated that this change does not affect EU citizens. Based on current EU law, the data of users in the European Union may not be shared with Facebook—even for advertising purposes. Why WhatsApp doesn't explicitly mention this in the FAQ remains unclear for now and only adds to the confusion. (Photo by tashatuvango / Bigstockphoto)
